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by Ken Williams

On Tuesday evening, 10th of July, 2018 I was at the great passage tomb of Newgrange, Co. Meath, with Clare Tuffy, manager of Brú na Boinne. I’ve been to Newgrange countless times but the site is so complex and intriguing, each visit continues to offer new insights and observations. I had in mind to take some photos of the kerbstone art and afterwards to take a few aerial shots, including the very exciting excavation being carried out by Geraldine and Matthew Stout in the field below the mound. The features uncovered by geophysical survey there are truly extraordinary.

Clare and I had been working out a time and date to meet at the site and when I couldn’t make it on Monday evening Clare said Tuesday evening actually suited a lot better anyway. What followed was a series of startling and fortuitous coincidences that would in turn lead to several enormously significant discoveries.

Leontia Lenehan from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre had noticed that one of the small stones in the rear revetment of the cairn might have some picked carving on it. Clare and I went to investigate. While doing so, I stumbled on the first extraordinary find of the day. The stones in the area Leontia indicated appeared to have entirely natural surfaces but there was something highly unusual within that tiny, specific section of the revetment that had never been noticed before. More on that, hopefully, at a future date.

Just after Clare and I left Newgrange I bumped into Anthony Murphy of Mythical Ireland who was also preparing to take some aerial photos of the area. I’ve known Anthony for years and we have both been active amateur researchers, documenting the Brú na Bóinne landscape and monuments since the early 2000s. Anthony is also a great writer and photographer, alongside being involved in music, astronomy, amateur radio and several other active interests. We are also both incurable camera geeks and often spend entire evenings discussing the technical merits of a wide range of Nikon cameras and lenses. Anthony has always been generous with his time, knowledge and equipment and has saved the day on more than one occasion when I was stuck. You can read Anthony’s account of the new finds on his own blog here.

Dr. Steve Davis, assistant professor in Archaeology in UCD, who has been poring over the aerial photography and LiDAR of the Brú na Bóinne landscape for years, had already suggested to each of us separately that the extremely dry weather conditions for the past few weeks were ideal for capturing the existing features visible in the LiDAR data but normally not seen from above. There was even the potential for finding some new sites. There was absolutely no hint or any expectation however of discovering features that would go on to make global headlines.

Typically we spend hours minutely examining photos of ambiguous markings that could be something, but are more than likely nothing of archaeological significance. They are usually impossible to give any definite classification or dating to.

Anthony and I both fly DJI drones, so after we started to survey the landscape there was some unusual interference on our screens causing the displays to break up. I moved further away to try and reduce the interference and within minutes Anthony was shouting and calling me over to look at his screen.

What we were looking at seemed too good to be true. At first I thought it might be some strange artifact of the screen interference, the details of a circular feature in the crops below were so incredibly detailed. Maybe it was a crop circle made by pranksters? We moved in closer to look at it in detail, the we could see for certain that this was the colouration of standing crops that had not been interfered with. What we were looking at was beneath, within the soil, not in the crops themselves.

The combination of the type of crops in the field, the extreme dry weather over the preceding weeks and the fact that we were both flying over that area just as the differential colouration of the crops seemed to be peaking, all came together to make an incredible discovery.

Next to this spectacular feature was another, similar in appearance to the inner, segmented ditches visible in the first feature. Roughly in the centre of this was a circular feature with a pronounced ‘I’ shaped appearance. We both knew this was approximately the area where a probable passage tomb and henge had been revealed by LiDAR and geophysical survey, but it had never been visible to the unaided eye before this.

Up in the corner of the field I spotted more circular marks, on closer examination it was two concentric circles of pits or post holes with four much larger pit/post holes within it. Extending out from the outer circle there were two parallel lines of post/pit holes, like a short entrance avenue perhaps. The following morning, while looking at the photos in more detail I noticed it had a larger, circular henge-like enclosure around it. This feature looked very similar to the Late Neolithic wooden four-poster circles, associated with Grooved Ware pottery, uncovered in excavations at various important sites. The best presented example was reconstructed as it was found, close to the entrance of Knowth’s eastern passage. Another well defined circle of similar appearance was found at Ballynahatty, adjacent to the enormous banks of the henge known as ‘The Giant’s Ring’, south of Belfast in Co. Down.

Running past this is a set of two, very wide, parallel arcs of darker crops. It’s difficult to tell whether these arcs consist of narrow, continuous ditches or sets of very closely spaced posts. Across the same field, other features and anomalies of potential interest were readily apparent.

That night, Anthony and I spent several hours reviewing the photos and discussing the enormous significance of what we had found with Steve. Archaeologists are typically cautious about publishing early impressions about significant discoveries. Steve was advocating at least a few days of careful examination and surveying of the area before going public. Anthony, however, as a seasoned journalist and news editor, recognising the enormous significance and public interest in the discoveries, as well as the very likely discovery of the features by others flying drones or even in low-flying aircraft at any moment, decided there was no time to waste. There was every reason to go ahead immediately.

We both agreed it was, quite literally, too big a discovery to try to keep a lid on. If we didn’t go public then, someone else surely would in the following days. For all we knew it may already been spotted and posted online. From the air it resembles an impressive crop circle, though the obvious difference between crop circles and the features we saw is that crop circles are made by flattening the crops. That was not the case here.

What Anthony had spotted first was a Neolithic structure of such clarity and detail, with features unprecedented in the published literature. It is unquestionably the jewel among the other discoveries that followed, something of international importance. The other discoveries, while significant, are not unique in the archaeology of the Irish Neolithic, the segmented ditch features in the new henge however are surely a new class of monument altogether.

Anthony and I a couple of hours after making the discovery, trying to take it all in.

The following morning, I returned to the Boyne Valley early in the morning and while flying over the areas along the river, I noticed two large circular features in a field overlooking the river flood plain, on the south side of the river. One had earlier been recorded as an enclosure, but the new aerial photos indicated a very wide ditch, marked by dark crops, surrounded by a similarly wide bank, shown by lighter crops growing in significantly shallower soils. This strongly suggests it is a wide bank with a large internal ditch, a Late Neolithic henge, seemingly the first to be discovered south of the river in the Boyne Valley.

In the corner of the field, in a prominent position at the edge of a steep valley, was another horse-shoe shaped feature with a possible interior structure at its south end and a clearly defined opening to the north. These features are on the lands owned by the local company Newgrange Gold, who were delighted to see the video of these features shown in the national news bulletin on RTÉ News.

Further east, on the lower levels of the Boyne floodplain beside the probable passage tomb known as ‘Mound B’, two other enormous circular features came into view. Later, while sharing some photos with Steve, I learned that one of these was a probable henge that was strongly hinted in the LiDAR data, the similarly sized example next to this, however, had not been seen in previous investigations of the area.

Over the next couple of days I went on to document several other, smaller sites of probably later periods in the Co. Meath area which will now be reported to National Monuments.

Some facts and figures for the monuments first revealed:

The large, elaborate henge of post holes and segmented ditches:

It is approximately 150m in diameter.

The interior space is 120m in maximum diameter.

The rectangular entrance or exit structure on the western side of this henge is about 230 square metres in size, quite an enormous structure in its own right.

Its nearest edge is 638m from the kerb of the great passage tomb of Newgrange.

Its closest edge is approximately 63m from the water’s edge along the Boyne.

The new henge is 83m from the edge of the known site, LP2.

The four-poster wooden concentric circle in the north east of the field:

The outer wooden circle is approximately 32m in maximum diameter. The reconstructed example from Knowth in my video above, by comparison, is about 8.5m in diameter.

The inner wooden circle is approximately 19m in diameter.

The large wooden posts that make up the ‘four-poster’ were about 9m apart.

The two parallel rows of posts which seem to make up a short entrance avenue are also 19m long, as far as we can tell from the photographs.

The circular henge-like enclosure around it seems to have been around 90m in diameter but is now partially under roads.

The outer wooden circle is approximately 400m south west of the kerb of Newgrange.

The finds have since been reported on in the media across the globe, featuring on ABC News, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Al Jazeera, El Pais, The BBC, RTE News, Today FM, Newstalk FM and many other news outlets.

On Friday the 13th, the National Monuments section of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht visited the site and surveyed the area from a helicopter, gathering more images. On Sunday they issued a press release, announcing further significant finds in the area.

Like this:

This is not a typical blog for this page. Instead of discussing recent site visits or photographs we’ll be looking at a recent controversy sparked by comments about the reconstruction of Newgrange and, in particular, three claims made in the media by an Irish archaeologist; 1. That the “roof-box” at Newgrange may not be an original feature, instead it was “fabricated” and has “not a shred of authenticity” 2. That two vitally important structural stones, both decorated with megalithic art, from Newgrange were lost after the excavation and 3. That the photographic evidence that backs up the existing restoration is either inaccessible or never existed at all. I hope to show why we can be sure none of these claims are sustainable and that in fact the winter solstice phenomenon at Newgrange is an original and central feature of the tomb.

Winter Solstice at Newgrange. Today two beams of light, one from the doorway and one from the roof-box, illuminate the passage.

December 21st, 2016: The Winter Solstice falls on the traditional day on which the largest crowds, various VIPs and the media gather in front of the great passage tomb, situated on the brow of a ridge overlooking the Boyne River and its fertile floodplain. At 8.58am, if a stubborn cloud bank on the southern horizon had dissipated, those lucky few people who had the privilege of waiting inside the chamber within would have observed one of the most ancient, spectacular and moving displays of all prehistoric archaeology. One which magically combines engineering, artistry, drama and spirituality like few other constructions before or since.

The discovery of the alignment towards the rising sun on the shortest day by the excavator of the tomb, Michael J. O’Kelly (known to friends and associates as Brian), in 1967 had caused a sensation. Not only did the passage of the tomb face directly at the point at which the Winter Solstice sun rose above the horizon at the time of its construction, circa 3200BCE, the builders had also installed at Newgrange a unique and ingenious device through which the sun could illuminate the floor of the chamber 19 metres (60 feet) distance within the mound, even when the massive door-slab sealing the tomb was in position. O’Kelly’s discovery was surveyed and assessed by Patrick, the results being published in 1974, demonstrating that the probability of an alignment towards the rising sun on the Winter Solstice was extremely high, enough to conclude it was deliberate (Patrick, 1974). This claim was subsequently strengthened by Tom Ray in his own 3D analysis (Ray, 1988). It has been suggested that other passage tombs may originally have had a similar feature, though such a construction has thus far never been found in situ elsewhere. Claims that a roof-box had been constructed at Cairn G at Carrowkeel in Co. Sligo are difficult to prove, the supposed opening, which is much narrower than at Newgrange, is in fact very similar to those over the three recesses in the chamber and may simply reflect the preferred building method of the builders.

O’Kelly named the feature the ‘roof-box’. The front lintel of it protrudes through the grassy mound in historical photos and artist’s representations of the monument. Workers under the direction of Richard Burchett tried unsuccessfully to shift it using crowbars in 1874. There was speculation that it indicated the entry point to an undiscovered passage, or was a receptacle for offerings to the dead within. What O’Kelly found on removing the covering cairn however was remarkable.

The Newgrange roof-box, viewed from the exterior of the tomb. In front of the roof-box is the first roof-stone of the passage, RS 1. Below the decorated lintel is what O’Kelly called the ‘Back Corbel’ and behind that is Roof-stone 2 (RS 2).

The Newgrange monument was built on the narrow crest of the ridge, to the front the passage sloped downwards from the chamber towards the entrance and at the rear it also followed the fall-off in the ground level, covering an earlier turf mound in the process. As you walk through the passage and enter the chamber you are also climbing this slope, a height difference of some 2m. The overhead roof-box that you pass beneath on entry is now at the level of your feet. A slight bend in the passage and the constraining effect of the upward slope combine to restrict ambient light from the entrance reaching the chamber and so the chamber remains almost totally dark throughout the year.

An unforgettable moment: Winter Solstice Sunrise illuminates the floor of the chamber of Newgrange in 2010. Viewed here from the chamber floor you can see the roof-box directly ahead. Due to the slope of the passage the roof-box and entrance are not visible while standing in the chamber.

Illustration of the Winter Solstice illumination of the chamber and passage. As can be seen, before the restoration, the slumped position of RS 2 and RS 3 would have prevented any light reach the chamber. Illustration: Vallancey 2016, after Stout & Stout 2008.

On this particular day, unfortunately, the sun would not appear in the chamber. Instead of the iconic warm glowing pictures of light on the chamber floor, Newgrange was making headlines in print and across social media for a totally different reason. In the December 21st edition of the Irish Times journalist Lorna Siggins had a different take on the spectacle we had waited over-optimistically for. Quoting archaeologist Michael Gibbons, Siggins made a bold claim: the famous spectacle made possible by the roof-box, which had put Newgrange on the world map, was a “fabrication” with “not a shred of authenticity”. The remarks formed part of a report on a paper published by Michael and Myles Gibbon describing possible Iron Age features at Newgrange that may represent significant cult activity at the site during this period, connected with events in Roman Britain.

In further comments on Irish radio, Gibbons suggested that the roof-box we know today was in disarray when O’Kelly found it and it was an imaginative interpretation that saw it end up as a special opening that allows the solstice light to strike the chamber floor. It was, Michael said, like picking up the pieces of a broken bottle and fitting it all back together with a mixture of old and new pieces.

In his view, it is impossible to say what the structure was like in antiquity, the excavation report did not contain enough detail and photographic evidence to back up the modern reconstruction. The archive, we were told, was not publicly accessible. Worse still “two of the key stones from it went missing, they’ve been lost, I’d love the minister to tell us what happened to those stones” therefore we can no longer test whether the reconstruction ever matched what was there originally.

Are any or all of these claims based on fact? Archaeologists and other interested parties were quick to address the claims. Within the articles themselves, archaeologist Robert Hensey disputes them and later gave a detailed reply on the Moncrieff show on Newstalk Radio,the Office of Public Works issued a brief statement with accompanying photographs of the lintel and partially uncovered roof-box in the early 20th century and in a letter to the Irish times, four prominent figures in Irish archaeology, all former students of O’Kelly, strongly disputed the assertions.

What has been lacking, however, has been a demonstration of the case supporting the current roof-box reconstruction, supported with excavation photographs and illustrations which help prove the entire roof-box was found intact and was restored with the highest possible precision. Gibbons does raise a valid point in that the excavation report published by O’Kelly has few detailed photographs of the roof-box structure. It must be borne in mind, however, that while O’Kelly may have known his restoration was controversial, he probably did not foresee claims that major structural elements were fabrications, so the provided illustrations may have been seen to be adequate at the time.

Let’s examine the evidence for each assertion in turn and hopefully along the way test some of the claims and rumours that surround the authenticity of the solstice event at Newgrange.

Claim 1: The roof-box was “fabricated” and had “not a shred of authenticity”. It was made higher and wider to allow the sunrise light reach the chamber.

This claim seems very difficult to sustain, early photographs and drawings show the lintel of the roof-box in what seems to be an identical height and position behind roof-stone 1 (RS 1).

Photo c. 1880 by R. Welch, note the decorated lintel set behind and above the passage entrance, just as it appears today.

In the rarely seen photo below, we can see the roof-box uncovered as the cairn stones around the passage are in the process of being removed. We know this was taken before the reconstruction or the straightening of the passage orthostats because the base of the original cairn is still in place and the concrete walls that run the length of the passage, and which stand taller than roof-stone 1, are absent. A large cutting down to the old ground level had been made during the excavation to allow the orthostats to be restored to the vertical, this was completed before the roof-box had been re-assembled (O’Kelly, 1982, pg. 89). Note the height of roof-stone 3 (RS 3), the long capstone running behind the roof-box, it will become important later.

The roof-box as originally uncovered during the excavations. Note the position of the rear large roof-stone (RS 3) at almost the same level as the forward large roof-stone (RS 1). The concrete walls built later along the rear of the passage orthostats is not seen in this photo and the cairn behind has yet to be removed. Photo from Michael J. & Claire O’Kelly – Partnership in Prehistory.

Below are just a small selection of the numerous photos of the Roof-box and passage capstones being fitted back in position according to exact measurements and with reference to large scale drawings (O’Kelly, 1982, pg. 112) visible in the bottom right photograph (Michael J. & Claire O’Kelly – Partnership in Prehistory n.d.).

Reconstruction of the passage capstones and Roof-box under the direct supervision of O’Kelly, using detailed large scale drawings. Photos from Michael J. & Claire O’Kelly – Partnership in Prehistory.

In the excavation report itself (O’Kelly, 1982), two photographs were presented of the uncovered roof-box, plates 41 and 43. Plate 43 is from a downward angle and shows the first few metres of the passage. The roof-box is visible, but due to the angle it is difficult to judge with certainty if the structure had collapsed in on itself. Plate 41 is a tightly cropped photo of the entrance and roof-box taken from a position in front of the entrance. It shows the supporting stones beneath the decorated lintel and the back corbel but due to the lack of context around the structure it could be hard to tell if this was before or after the reconstruction. The caption, however, indicates it was after the removal of the surrounding cairn.

Below is a comparison of the appearance of the external Roof-box structure before and after reconstruction. Compare each block supporting the corbel slabs that in turn support the back corbel and decorated lintel. Each stone is identical, the original stones were re-used in the re-building of it. The height and the width of the roof-box also appear to be identical. Click the photo to enlarge.

The Roof-box before (left) and after reconstruction. Compare the size and shape of each of the visible stones supporting the upper components of the Roof-box. The height and width of the opening looks identical before and after. Pre-reconstruction photo after O’Kelly.

Claim 2: “two of the key stones from it went missing, they’ve been lost.”

This claim, also from an interview with Matt Cooper on Today FM, is the easiest claim to settle, the two stones that formerly supported the roof-stones and back of the roof-box are in fact exactly where O’Kelly stated they were, in the National Museum in Dublin. Here they form the interior of a mock-up passage tomb built into one corner of the museum and are available for public viewing. See the drawings of the carved stones below, and photos of the stones as photographed by me in the museum in 2011. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Left Corbel 3, as found in the mock-up passage tomb in the National Museum in Dublin.

Right Corbel 3, as found in the mock-up passage tomb in the National Museum in Dublin.

Incidentally, one of the corbels (Right Corbel 3) has a wonderful example of the unique ‘water grooves’ cut into the roof-stones of the passage to drain excess water out from the passage into the surrounding cairn. All of the other examples in the monument itself are hidden from view within the cairn or purpose built tunnel. Special permission is required to view these.

EDIT 28/12/16: Michael Gibbons has since asked to clarify that the two lost stones he was referring to were quartz blocks that O’Kelly believed were used to block the roof-box before and after the solstice.

However, only one such stone was found during the excavation, where it had fallen into the opening of the roof-box. A second stone was never found but O’Kelly inferred from scratch marks on the top surface of RS 1 that a second had been present and both were repeatedly moved to allow light enter the chamber (O’Kelly, 1982 pg. 96). The quartz block that was present was not a structural stone and would not demonstrate if O’Kelly’s reconstruction of the roof-box was legitimate or not. The current location of this quartz block is apparently unknown.

Claim 3: The excavation remains mostly unpublished and there is no publicly available photographic evidence to back up the restoration of the roof-box.

The O’Kelly archive is in fact accessible to any member of the public, an appointment is necessary to view it however. This was clarified in the press statement made by the OPW following the publication of the article and has been the case for several years now. Contact the National Monuments Service Archive for more information.

So if the roof-box was in good condition when found and was restored faithfully, there is then no reason to suspect the illumination of the chamber was an original feature that guided the construction of the tomb? Not quite, there is one further objection that is sometimes raised to the restoration and the resulting beam of light that, in c3,200BC, would have lit up the very rear of the terminal chamber.

Behind the roof-box there are two roof-stones, RS 2 and RS 3 that are not currently in the position that they are drawn from the pre-excavation surveys. They are both significantly higher. If they had been in the lower positions originally, no light may have reached the chamber at all.

The passage pre-excavation, note the low positioning of RS 2 and RS 3 and also the section drawings that show the slipping and compression of the dry-stone corbelling that supported the roof-stones. Illustration after O’Kelly

O’Kelly describes the reasons for this in the published excavation report: the corbels that were once seated above the orthostats had slipped under the weight of the massive cairn above them and now rested behind the orthostats, helping to push them inward to create the very tight passage that earlier visitors struggled to squeeze through. The section drawings above also show the corbels splayed out so the inner wall of the corbelling was significantly compressed. O’Kelly notes the same effects can still be seen today further along the passage in the area where the overlying cairn had not been removed (O’Kelly, 1982 pg. 96). When the passage orthostats were straightened and the corbelling reinstated to their positions above the orthostats, the resulting lift clears the path for the solstice light to penetrate the chamber.

The reconstructed passage and roof-stones, note that RS 2 and RS 3 and now higher and the resulting gap allows the beam of light to reach through the passage. Illustration after O’Kelly.

It is clear that, if the alignment was to function, both RS 2 and RS 3 had to have been higher in the original construction. If one or both were significantly lower then the phenomenon simply would not work. Another of the unusual engineering techniques used by the Neolithic builders simplifies this problem somewhat, the gap between RS 2 and RS 3 had originally been sealed by a putty made of burnt clay and sand which prevented water from passing through. This putty was suitable for radiocarbon dating and the resulting dates matched those found further along the passage, where the roof rises to meet the chamber. The presence of this putty in this position strongly suggests that both stones were originally fitted together, if one is lifted by the reinstatement of the corbelling, then the other must move in tandem with it to preserve the original relationship. If only one had slipped, the putty seal would have been ruptured and the traces likely washed away. If both stones had not been laid in close proximity originally, the putty seal between them would not have been required.

The photo below of the reconstructed outer passage shows the position of the front edge of RS 3, it is approximately 20cm above that of RS 1, which rests directly on top of the outermost orthostats. Because there was no corbelling in this outer part of the passage, we know the height of RS 1 has to be original. In the section drawings in O’Kelly’s book, the front edge of RS 3 is shown practically level with RS 1. Therefore, it only needed to be raised by 15-20cm for the Roof-box to project light onto the floor of the chamber. Even by a conservative guess, judged by the extent of the lean of the orthstats and the compression, the combination of the lift provided by straightening the passage orthostats below RS 3 and the reinstatement of the corbelling is more than adequate to facilitate this size of a gap and would certainly have allowed the angle of the light to illuminate the chamber floor, if not the back wall of the rear chamber, both after the original construction of the monument and today.

If, on the other hand, the reconstructed roofing of the passage had turned out to be too high, this would have had no effect on the phenomenon visible in the chamber as the maximum height of the beam is determined by a particularly low lintel further along the passage and the pronounced lean still present at orthostat L20.

Looking from the passage outwards through the entrance and roof-box, December 2015. Note the gap, measuring about 20cm, between the front edge of RS 3 and RS 1 in front of and below it.

The reconstruction methods used by O’Kelly, however archaeologists today judge their appropriateness by current standards, ensure the slippage and compression that previously blocked the Winter Solstice light should not recur. We can reasonably expect this phenomenon to occur and be witnessed by many generations into the future.

Campo Lameiro, in the mountainous heartland of Galicia in the north west corner of Spain, is home to one of the most significant prehistoric rock art landscapes in Europe. Over 4,000 years ago, people carved a bewildering array of symbols and schematic representations of animals on the wooded hillsides, using the many exposed granite outcrops as their canvas.

The expertly carved motifs range from the classic abstract circular ‘cup and ring’ motifs that are ubiquitous across the Atlantic rock art tradition of Western Europe, to majestic stags of all sizes, some of which feature particularly magnificent antlers. If you look carefully you may even spot a rare horse or two.

In recognition of the special cultural and heritage value of the area, and to make the rock art more accessible, an archaeological park with an excellent interpretative centre was opened in 2011. Now, visitors can enjoy many of the carvings along pleasant mountain trails that wind through open grassland and wooded groves of native species which are more in keeping with the relict landscape. Explanatory panels help to identify the various elements of the carvings. As with the museum exhibition itself, they are all in the native language. Maps and information in English are provided in the visitor centre.

Rock Art is so abundant in Galicia that drawing up a list of even a dozen must-visit sites would be difficult. However, there is no better place to start your explorations than here at Campo Lameiro. The permanent exhibition explores many of the theories and speculations that surround the mysterious signs and symbols, while a recreation of a small Bronze Age settlement is tucked away in a charming little meadow. The staff and guides are some of the most enthusiastic and well informed of any heritage site I’ve yet visited.

Usually, the carvings are best seen in summer under the late evening light. Only the most deeply carved motifs resist being washed out in the texture of the granite under the mid-day sun. On certain nights of the year however, during the high season, you can book a place on a very special tour after nightfall where even the most faded carvings come to life under the skillfully guided beams of torchlight provided by the park guides.

I was very lucky to have booked a place on the first tour to provide dual Spanish-English guides. Benito Vilas Estevez and Elena Tabodao Duran drew on their experience, knowledge and passion for the rock art to immerse the guests within the prehistoric landscape, while the accompanying guides dramatically revealed the significant carvings with torches (and also helped one over-enthusiastic photographer navigate the pitch-black woodland after falling behind the group).

The remote location of the park also means that light pollution is at a minimum so the area is also a great dark-sky location for viewing the stars and planets. The park is taking full advantage of this to offer some very special night tours this month, where Benito Vilas will be sharing his expertise in rock art, archaeology and ancient astronomy. I was delighted to see that the park had chosen to use one of the images from my visit on the poster for the event below.

See the full details on the park website or on their Facebook page and please enjoy the galley of photographs from my visit below.

Like this:

Winter Solstice sunrise shines through the roofbox above the door of Newgrange and along the passage floor

Click the ‘Play’ button below to start a slideshow. You can also click this link to view larger in a new window, or if you are using a mobile device.

There’s a really special atmosphere at Newgrange on a sunny winter solstice morning, especially so this year since there hadn’t been a clear sunrise here on the 21st of December since 2007. This morning was surely one of the most memorable and welcome sunrises in recent years. Most of the people who had made their way to the ancient passage tomb had come prepared for the worst, it seemed unlikely that the thick cloud and driving rain would ever clear. As dawn approached, however, a clearing to the south west began to spread east, sweeping the horizon ever closer to the point on the opposite ridge where the sun was soon to appear.

The sun finally breaks over the low cloud and lights up the river valley

The moment of sunrise passed, a stubborn bank of cloud sat just where the disc of the sun rises above Red Moutain. Within 15 minutes or so the window within which the sunrise can reach the chamber down the long passage would pass and the chamber would remain in darkness. The drumming and chanting from the crowd grew louder and louder, then all of a sudden a dazzling burst of light reached across the river valley, turning the white quartz facade of the 5,000 year old passage tomb a glorious golden orange. Accompanied by a loud cheer, the sun finally stretched across the floor of the chamber within the tomb, much to the delight of the lucky children and adults who had won places to witness the event inside the chamber.

Sunlight bursts through the specially designed roofbox constructed to admit light to reach deep inside the tomb

The great passage tomb at Newgrange is over 5,000 years old, built in the Neolithic or ‘late stone age’ by local farming communities. For much of that time it had stood in ruin, its passage compressed inwards by the sheer weight of the mound and the ingenious ‘lightbox’ above the door filled in with rubble. It was during the excavations and conservation of the monument from the 1960’s through to the early 1980’s that the secret of its astronomical function was revealed. The phenomenon was first witnessed by the excavator, Prof. Michael O’Kelly of University College Cork, at midwinter of 1967, he described it thus:

‘I was there entirely alone. Not a soul stood even on the road below. When I came into the tomb I knew there was a possibility of seeing the sunrise because the sky had been clear during the morning.’

‘I was literally astounded. The light began as a thin pencil and widened to a band of about 6 in. There was so much light reflected from the floor that I could walk around inside without a lamp and avoid bumping off the stones. It was so bright I could see the roof 20ft above me.

‘I expected to hear a voice, or perhaps feel a cold hand resting on my shoulder, but there was silence. And then, after a few minutes, the shaft of light narrowed as the sun appeared to pass westward across the slit, and total darkness came once more.’

Gathering outside the monument has become a yearly tradition and it’s always great to old faces and new, catch up with the year’s events and look forward to the Christmas holidays and New Year ahead. The staff from the Office of Public Works deserve huge credit for the warm atmosphere and smooth running of the event each year, alongside all the other organisations and volunteers who help keep the event a family friendly affair. It’s great to see the smiling faces of the children emerging from the passage after witnessing something they may remember for the rest of their lives. Having seen their wonderful art hanging in the visitor centre, it was surely a very well deserved prize! Congrats to all the winners of the school art competitions and well done to everyone who took part.

It’s been a while since the last blog update and there’s quite a backlog of photos and wonderful sites from over the summer months. But before I get down to the really heavy duty sorting and editing I thought I’d post a quick snapshot of the typical trials and photo-ops that might meet you on a typical trip out into deepest rural Ireland.

Over the years I’ve had my camera bag rifled by pigs at a Portuguese dolmen, nuzzled by horses at an axial stone circle in County Cork, pecked by rooks in Wales and stampeded by sheep near Avebury in England. My encounter with some bullocks in County Louth even made a nice book cover, but these cows I ran into in Kerry really took beastly intrusions to a whole new level.

A Congregation of Cattle in Co. Kerry

Cattle breath on your fingers means move quick or get licked…

The tripod survived the head-butt but the flash is in the dirt…

I was vaguely aware that there was a stone in the townland of Knockbrack with some rock art coupled with an ogham inscription from a chapter in a book by local archaeologist Fionnbarr Moore and I was hoping it had not weathered much since his photos and drawings were made in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Time has not been kind to the decorated stone however, and the pathologically curious cows seemed determined to thwart all my efforts at bringing the carvings back to life…

Some elephants create art, cows are more into creative lighting effects

I tried to get a few shots of the badly weathered rock art despite having all my carefully placed kit constantly re-arranged, but it quickly became a losing battle. I think a return trip is in order with some accomplices, purely to keep the cows entertained.

If you’ve been a regular visitor to this blog’s Facebook page, you will no doubt have already encountered some posts following my travels around Ireland seeking out and photographing Ireland’s prehistoric rock art. For the most part it is the unreliable Irish weather or bewildering and impenetrable terrain that provide the challenges in locating and recording these prehistoric traces in the landscape.

This particular form of rock art that I am most interested in is sometimes described as ‘Atlantic Rock Art’ or ‘Galician Rock Art’ after the main geographic areas in which it is found, from the North West coast of the Iberian Peninsula to the glens of Scotland. I usually just refer to it as rock art though they are often termed ‘cup and ring’ carvings as the prototypical panel consists of dots/cupules/cup marks surrounded by one or more rings.

These mysterious carvings are perhaps one of Ireland’s most obscure prehistoric remnants. Though they are sometimes found in large concentrations and across many areas of the country they are little known with barely any mythological or folklore associations. In contrast, another form of ancient stone carving, Ogham, is immediately familiar and it’s cultural importance widely recognised. The two traditions are very distinct, they are separated by thousands of years and a wide gulf of knowledge. Ogham has been much studied and its code deciphered and documented, while the meaning of the even more ancient rock art remains elusive. It isn’t very often you find both together on the same stone in a landscape setting so this particular site at Knockbrack, Co. Kerry is very intriguing and worthy of further study. Perhaps I’ll cover the rock art itself in more detail in a later blog post. For the moment, here’s some more shots of the stone and its guardian angels:

Like this:

Glendruid Dolmen, also known as Brennanstown Dolmen, is one of the finest of the Irish portal tombs. It is also one of the largest examples, its capstone has been estimated to weigh between 40 and 70 tonnes. Although there is no direct dating evidence for this particular portal tomb, it is of a type that were generally built around the early to middle Neolithic period or ‘New Stone Age’ by farming communities that were becoming established throughout the island from about 4,000 BC, replacing the hunter gatherer groups that had first colonised post-glacial Ireland perhaps 4,000 years earlier. This early farming period is characterised by a new tool kit of distinctive stone tools; flint arrow heads, polished stone axes, pottery and so on as well as the introduction of cereals and domesticated animals that became the dominant food source and the basis for a new economy of trade and social exchange.

Situated in a wonderfully secluded valley with a forest walk and fast flowing stream, it is easy to forget that this spectacular tomb is within a short walk of the recently developed Luas tram line through the suburbs of South County Dublin. It is possible to access the valley from the as yet unopened Lehaunstown Luas stop by either climbing a 6ft wall and down a steep bank or by walking along the field south of the station and through a tunnel under the line.

Many visitors remark on the sculptural quality of the tomb, the individual stones have been carefully selected to complement the plan and symmetry of the structure

Although it seems at first glance that the chamber is quite low under the massive capstone, the ‘legs’ of the dolmen are actually sunken well down into the ground and stepping in over a sill stone to the rear of the monument allows access into a chamber that is really very roomy and comfortable to stand in. It also made a welcome shelter from the passing heavy showers on an otherwise sunny day!

The structural stones lean heavily under the enormous weight of the capstone.

All of the structural stones seem to be of granite. Some lean heavily and have even broken under the stress of supporting such a large capstone. At some point repair and conservation works were carried out to stabilise the structure, a large concrete triangular frame now props up the rear chamber stones and at least one has had large cracks cemented in.

A trip to this wonderful portal tomb makes a great day out, though you may want to pick a dry day as the grassy valley floor can get very muddy. My son Cian, who is three, particularly liked the forest walk and throwing a few sticks into the stream from a lovely little clearing along the banks.

You can enter the valley via the Luas stop at Lehaunstown by walking along the wide grassy verge from the Carrickmines stop. Do so at your own risk however! There are one or two signs restricting access along the tracks themselves yet there is a small stile inserted into the wall allowing direct access onto the verge, so it’s not very clear whether there is public access to the green areas or not. You will see the dolmen through the trees on the opposite side of the stream along the forest path. You can try and cross the stream at a tricky looking fording point close to the tomb or continue along the path until you reach an old stone bridge and walk back along the valley bank. Alternatively there is direct access from Brennanstown Rd. through the grounds of a private house.

Click on a photo to open the gallery viewer:

Cian (3) and the monstrously large Glendruid Dolmen

Many visitors remark on the sculptural quality of the tomb, the individual stones have been carefully selected to complement the plan and symmetry of the structure

The brambles are once again beginning to crowd around the dolmen and have really taken over the valley floor in the last number of years

Across the back of the capstone are long grooves which appear to be artificial, perhaps to channel rain water away from the rear chamber where it is now possible to access the interior of the tomb

The structural stones lean heavily under the enormous weight of the capstone.

From the south, this portal stone fits the capstone snugly on a curving inner shoulder

The interior

The lovely valley stream that runs just metres away from the portal tomb

Down a narrow track off a minor country road, the pillar at King’s Mountain sits upright in a field like a beautifully decorated standing stone. This stone however is quite special, being the solitary remaining roofstone or lintel of a long destroyed passage tomb type monument which had been built around 5,500 years ago. Just five kilometers away is one of Ireland’s greatest passage tomb cemeteries from the Neolithic or Late Stone Age, the Loughcrew complex of decorated chambered tombs. These are also visible against the sky from this spot. Meath is a relatively low lying county so even though the hills at Loughcrew are not particularly high, they do dominate the lowlands for many miles around.

Though they had been noted by a Miss Beaufort in 1828, the passage tombs at Loughcrew were first formally described by Eugene Conwell in 1864 and presented as ‘The Tomb of Ollamh Fodhla’ in paper read to the Royal Irish Academy in 1872. A cairn is marked near this location on an estate map of 1798. When he visited King’s Mountain, it was sadly just a little too late to record exactly the nature of the monument that stood near this spot:

“On its present site up to a few years ago, stood a tumulus, which the proprietor of the field caused to be carried away for top-dressing; and in the centre of the mound this stone was found, covering in a chamber formed of smaller flagstones and filled with bones, all of which have disappeared, the covering stone alone excepted” (Conwell, E.A. 1872)

The decoration on the bottom three-quarters of one face of the stone consists of spirals of various sizes with both clockwise and anti-clockwise turns, joined by arcing lines. The dominant spiral has also been enlarged with penannular circles. These have been integrated into one larger design across the face of the stone more consistent with the mature ‘plastic’ style of megalithic art found at the Boyne Valley passage tombs of Newgrange and Knowth than the more haphazard and wonderfully energetic freestyle of depictive art found at the Loughcrew tombs. (Shee Twohig, E. 1981, Herity, M. 1974)

The site is located down a maze of local minor roads, miles from the nearest village or town and is about as good a dark-sky location as anywhere on the east coast on very clear nights. Some light pollution from Oldcastle was dimly visible while I was taking pictures, giving an orange tint to some of the longer exposure photographs. Seeing as it was heading into the St. Patrick’s festival weekend, I thought it would be worth rummaging around the bottom of the camera bag for some Strobist gels to add a festive green tint to the stone, I’m not normally a big fan of using different coloured effects with flash but here’s the slightly more subtle results using a fluorescent correcting light shade of green over the handheld flash unit:

Lit up green for the St. Patrick’s Festival! (click to view larger)

The site is located on private land down a narrow track, see Knowth.com for more information. Click here if you would like to purchase a print, please specify if you would like image 1,2 or 3 from this page.

References:

Conwell, E.A. 1864. On ancient remains, hitherto undescribed, in the County of Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (1st series) 9, 42-50.

Conwell, E.A. 1866. Examination of the ancient sepulchral cairns on the Loughcrew Hills, County of Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (1st series) 9, 355-79.

Conwell, E.A. 1872. On the identification of the ancient cemetery at Loughcrew, Co. Meath; and the discovery of the tomb of Ollamh Fodhla. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (2nd series) 1 (Literature), 72-106.